1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a runout and braking device, particularly for medium steel rolled sections. The device includes a run-in roller table and a braking device arranged laterally offset and parallel to the run-in roller table, wherein the run-in roller table and the braking device form a runout and braking system.
2. Description of the Related Art
The development of rolling mills has resulted, within short intervals, in increases of the rolling speeds. Consequently, increasing quantities of rolling stock have been supplied to the finishing departments and, when the capacities of the finishing departments could no longer keep up with the rolling capacity, the finishing departments represented a bottleneck for the entire flow of material. This resulted in the requirement that the finishing departments had to be further developed and adapted in such a way that an ever increasing rolling mill production can be handled on-line, with the tendency being toward more efficient solutions in order to increase the capacity by improved automation and simultaneously to reduce the relatively high cost of personnel.
The primary goal is to increase the speed of the entire flow of material and to provide means and measures for an orderly deposition of rolled bars in corresponding cooling bed lengths. Of particular importance is the positionally accurate deposition of individual rolled rods; specifically, predetermined cut lengths of the rolled bars must come to rest on the cooling bed in bundles with a number of commercial lengths, wherein the front ends or rear ends of the bars are aligned. In order to achieve this, controllable, fully automatic runout and braking devices are usually required between the runout of a rolling mill and the entry of a cooling bed.
A device of this type is known, for example, from DE-0S 2 218 041. In this device, a rolled bar emerging from the rolling train passes initially a cutting device for cropping the useless front ends of the rolled bar and is then conducted onto a runout roller table. In the runout roller table, a braking roller table which can be lifted on one side is activated and the braking action of the rod moving on the table is initiated. In the known device, such a braking roller table is composed of conveying rollers arranged with a slight inclination relative to the rolling axis, wherein the conveying rollers displace the rolled bar over the entire length toward the cooling bed side. As soon as the rolled bar is moved laterally out of the area of the runout roller table and onto the braking roller table, the braking roller table is lowered and the runout roller table is again available for receiving another rolled bar. Depending on the section type of the rolled bar, the braking roller table is controlled in such a way that cropping of the front end of the bar can be carried out in the cutting device in a predetermined length or, if the rolled bars do not have to be cropped, a final position is reached which is located in front of the cutting device. If the rolled bars are to be straightened, they pass a straightening machine and are subsequently supplied through the run-out roller table to the cooling bed. In the known device, as shown in FIG. 1, the braking device in the form of a braking roller table is arranged parallel to the runout roller table.
In accordance with other known solutions for constructing a runout area together with braking devices, braking slides may be arranged within a roller table or wipers for laterally wiping rolled sections in the form of a dropping movement into the side wall may be provided.
Braking slides have the disadvantage that, in the case of relatively low rolling speeds, a quick and safe transverse movement does not take place on the braking slides which are being raised. On the other hand, the use of wipers has the disadvantage that pull rods for the common pivoting movement of the wipers, which are subjected to thermally caused length changes, may lead to undesired pivoting movements. Moreover, an abrupt wiping to the side and the resulting rough dropping movement into the side wall may lead to deformations, particularly in the case of thin-walled I-beam sections.